Counihan has that winning feeling after productive week

A productive week for Cork football then.

Last Wednesday night Conor Counihan ventured to Tralee to watch the U21 side claim Munster honours and yesterday he was back on the senior beat steering them towards another league final. There, in a fortnight’s time in Croke Park, Cork will square off with a Mayo side who enjoyed the upper hand the last time the sides clashed at headquarters. “I think it’s going to be a very tough competitive game. Mayo have shown last year and again this year that they’re not going away and that they have a very resilient outfit. Obviously our performances over 70 minutes need to be more consistent. If we can do that we’ll be doing ok.

“It was good to see the U21s coming through in Tralee. Maybe there’s a bit of potential there for us as well once John and the lads are finished with them. I suppose the reality is, for them and for us, the games ahead will tell what we really have and what we haven’t.”

Counihan admitted the small crowd that gathered for yesterday’s games helped cause a low-key atmosphere.

“I got the sense the first-half was a bit dead in that no team got up to the intensity and maybe the crowd was a factor in that. There was a bit of excitement in the stadium obviously with the previous game having gone down to the wire and that so maybe it’s difficult to come back into that.

“In the second-half I think it opened up a bit and there was a bit more intensity in the thing. So. look, when you’re a player you’re out there to do a job. You shouldn’t be focused too much on what’s happening outside the white lines.”

Counihan’s counterpart Down boss James McCartan revealed his overall satisfaction with their league performance despite the defeat yesterday. “It’s a funny league. If we had been beaten by Laois by three points we would have been relegated, so it was a strange group in that regard. You are doomed by one loss and the next thing you are a world beater after one win. Anytime you stay in Division 1 you have to be happy. It will be a dangerous place to be next year with the two teams [Kildare and Tyrone] that are coming up.”

McCartan also conceded there is uncertainty over whether defender Dan Gordon will return in time for the start of the Ulster championship, but is hopeful that Danny Hughes will be back in the frame.

“I would expect Danny Hughes to be playing football in two or three weeks. Dan Gordon is a different set up. Because of Easter Week we had problems getting consultants and getting information. He is immobilized at the minute. If you are asking me if he is going to be fit for the Championship, I don’t know.”